KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today rejected Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s claim that the latter had already waived Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers’ billions of ringgit in debt.
Earlier, former PM Muhyiddin accused Anwar of lying to claim credit for the financial restructuring that would see the majority of the RM8.3 billion amassed by Felda settlers being forgiven.
“I just signed it at the end of June... and so how can you say you completed it in 2021?
“Completed where?” he asked at a ‘Temu Anwar’ event in Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah.
Yesterday, Anwar announced that his government has approved an annual allocation of up to RM1 billion for 10 years to ensure Felda’s sustainability.
In the video clip of the event shared online by Astro Awani today, Anwar said that while there had been an agreement during the Perikatan Nasional administration, the restructuring was notably absent from Budget 2021 and Budget 2022.
“Only in the Madani Budget in November 2023 did I start to set aside RM990 million as an early allocation to dispose of Felda’s settlers’ debts which total RM8.3 billion,” he said.
He said he also announced further assistance for the Felda settlers, including yesterday when he approved the installation of streetlights in Felda land.
Earlier today, in a posting to his Facebook account, Muhyiddin claimed that he had disposed of Feld settlers' debts in 2021 when he was the prime minister.
"However, due to Felda’s cash flow constraints, the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional government was unable to carry out settlement of settler debts continuously,” he said, and accused Anwar of lying about the matter.
Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported that the federal government had approved an annual allocation of RM1 billion per year for the next decade to ensure Felda’s survival.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, attributed the delay in distribution for the Felda sukuk loan was previously due to the government needing to meet its commitments in delivering its stimulus packages.
